Project Sakura Wars - Demo TitleS

Sakura Wars

Sakura Wars (2019) Ships Worldwide on 4/28/2020; English Trailer Revealed


Earlier today, Sega announced that upcoming PlayStation 4 game Sakura Wars (2019) will hit stores worldwide on April 28. The first run of the game will be packaged as a “Launch Edition” that includes a reversible cover and a sticker sheet.

Sakura Wars 2019 US Launch Edition Visual

In a post on Sony’s PlayStation Blog, localization producer Andrew Davis revealed that Inbound Games (Valkyria Chronicles, Yakuza series) translated the game to English, before being brought back in-house for further localization at Sega of America. Keywords Studios provided French, German, and Spanish translations.

Sega opened an official English website for the game, which includes a formal English plot description. In addition, the publisher started streaming an an 80-second announcement trailer. We break the details down below.

Trailer

The teaser introduces Seijuro and the other members of the Imperial Combat Revue’s Flower Division. You can check it out below.

Story

Sega describes Sakura Wars (2019) as:

The stage is set in a steampunk version of 1940s Imperial Tokyo. Only a short while ago, a cataclysmic event destroyed the Imperial Combat Revue of Tokyo, the capital’s global defense force stationed at the Imperial Theater. Now home to the Flower Division, an inept rookie squad who also strives to impart hope on the citizenry with their theatrical talents, the theater has fallen on hard times and risks closure. It’s up to Seijuro Kamiyama as the captain of the new Tokyo revue to lead his squad and restore the Imperial Combat Revue and the theater back to their former glory! With the help of the revue’s five colorful performers, he must rise to the challenge of competing in the Combat Revue World Games, protecting the inhabitants of Tokyo and getting the theater back on track.

Sakura Wars (2019) launched in Japan on December 12, 2019. The title, which is available on Sony’s PlayStation 4 console, sold through 166,771 as of January 13, according to Famitsu. Upcoming anime series Shin Sakura Taisen The Animation will hit Japanese TV in April.

The core voice cast includes:

  • Seijūrō Kamiyama : Yōhei Azakami
  • Sakura Amamiya: Ayane Sakura
  • Hatsuho Shinonome: Maaya Uchida
  • Azami Mochizuki: Hibiku Yamamura
  • Anastasia Palma: Ayaka Fukuhara
  • Claris: Saori Hayami
  • Sumire Kanzaki: Michie Tomizawa
  • Reiji Shiba: Tomikazu Sugita
  • Kaoru Rindou: Yui Ishikawa
  • Komachi Ooba: Ryoko Shiraishi
  • Yang Shaolong: Yuuichirou Umehara
  • Yui Huang: Sumire Uesaka
  • Arthur: Nobunaga Shimazaki
  • Lancelot: Manami Numakura
  • Yasha: Chisa Yokoyama
  • Elise: Nana Mizuki
  • Margarethe: Rie Kugimiya

Bleach creator Tite Kubo provided the original character designs, while Jiro Ishii (Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, Under the Dog) was in charge of the story structure. Series composer Kohei Tanaka (Sakura Wars franchise, One Piece, Mobile Fighter G Gundam) returned to score the game’s soundtrack.

Other staff members include:

  • Script: Takaaki Suzuki (Girls und Panzer, Strike Witches)
  • Setting and Scenario Summary: Takanobu Terada
  • Development Director: Tetsuya Ootsubo
  • Producer: Tetsu Kitano
  • Character Visual Setting: Masashi Kudou
  • Main Mechanical Designer: Mika Akitaka
  • Executive Producer: Haruki Satomi
  • Original Concept: Ohji Hiroi

The Sakura Wars franchise is an original project by Sega CS2 R&D (later Overworks) and Red Entertainment. Ohji Hiroi (Moeyo Ken, Far East of Eden), Satoru Akahori (Saber Marionette J, Martian Successor Nadesico), and Kosuke Fujishima (Ah! My Goddess, You’re Under Arrest!) are listed as the original creators of the franchise.

The first title appeared on the Sega Saturn in 1996. The initial entry, while released only in Japan at the time, was estimated to have a 200,000 lifetime sales goal. The title sold 205,270 units in its opening week, which was roughly 57% of the launch shipment. At the time, the title was seen as having the largest debut for a Sega title to date. It would go on to move 359,485 copies throughout the Saturn’s lifespan.

Since then, the title has gone on to spawn:

  • Six main-line titles
  • Fifteen spin-off games
  • An anime TV series by Madhouse
  • Five anime OVA series
  • Seven manga and light novel adaptations
  • Sixteen high-profile live stage shows

The fifth mainline title in the series, Sakura Wars V: So Long, My Love was released in North America by NIS America. The title is available on Sony’s PlayStation 2, as well as Nintendo Wii console.

Source: Twitter (SakuraWars) PlayStation Blog

 

About the author

Samantha Ferreira

Samantha Ferreira is Anime Herald’s founder and editor-in-chief. A Rhode Island native, Samantha has been an anime fan since 1992, and an active member of the anime press since 2002, when she began working as a reviewer for Anime Dream. She launched Anime Herald in 2010, and continues to oversee its operations to this day. Outside of journalism, Samantha actively studies the history of the North American anime fandom and industry, with a particular focus on the 2000s anime boom and bust. She’s a huge fan of all things Sakura Wars, and maintains series fansite Combat Revue Review when she has free time available. When not in the Anime Herald Discord, Samantha can typically be found on Bluesky.

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